Change for the better
by surfboarding penguin
Summary: A girl finds herself alone in the middle of a wood, scared and betrayed. Oh, and she happens to have turned into a wolf. Please review!
1. It begins

Heaving the last box onto the counter, I looked around at my new home. It wasn't too shabby, considering. Orphaned kids don't tend to get the best of the best. I started to empty the last few possessions I had from the cardboard box, attempting to order it in some logical way. Picture frame, underwear, books and a board game. Nothing terribly exciting. All for the bedroom, I decided, scooping the items into my arms and making my way to the small room to my left. Dumping the stuff on the bed, I thought back over the last week or so.

My 16th Birthday had come and gone. Just a small party, all the kids at the home and my boyfriend Greg had come over. I didn't really have any other friends. Kids in care become their own little messed up family and I struggled to fit in with this dysfunctional family group. Generally, other kids avoided me, but it didn't bother me. I had Greg. Then the news came that I was to move to a half way house, preparing me for the world. I wasn't happy, partly because I didn't want to go and also as I was sure the world wasn't ready for me. But they still kicked me out and here I was nearly finished unpacking. Hands on hips, I surveyed the area. Everything was mildly in a place, nothing struck me as completely in the wrong place. Catching a glance of myself in the mirror, I turned and surveyed myself in the glass. I wasn't anything particularly pretty, with short, cropped dark hair and dark skin, a slim built and quite gangly. I sighed, turning away from myself.

Now that I was unpacked, I didn't really know what to do with myself. Everything was in place, I had no need to go job hunting (the home had set me up at a place for a while) and I didn't really have anyone to entertain. I fished my phone out of my jacket pocket and sent a text to Greg:

Hey, if you've got time meet me at our cafe asap please x

With that I marched out of my flat, determined to stay away from the emptiness as long as possible. Hands in pockets, I walked down the street towards the town centre in Kingston.

I walked along the main road towards the centre of town. I wasn't thinking of anything in particular. My mind wondered between memories, occasionally checking in on the situation. I meandered through the few shoppers along the street, enjoying the evening sunshine and the start of the weekend. I crossed the road. A supermarket was my first destination. I had made a short plan in my head: buy food to prevent starvation, visit boy friend to avoid flat, invite boyfriend back to flat to avoid loneliness, TV because I could and bed. I grabbed a basket and strolled up the isles, looking for something mildly simple. Grabbing various foods off the shelves, I made my way back to the checkout, where a man bleeped my stuff through the machine. Turning away, I glanced at my phone. Nothing. Sighing a little, I shoved my phone back in its pocket, grabbed the bag off the counter, swung around and walked straight into someone. 'Sorry' I said, staggering a little, 'I didn't-' I stopped. The person I had walked into smiled. It was the most dazzling smile I had ever seen. The woman I had collided with was tall and slim. Her sleek black hair was ramrod straight and fell to just above her hips. Her skin was alabaster white, which contrasted dramatically with her hair. She was beautiful. 'I-' I stuttered attempting to find my tongue which for some reason had dematerialised out of my mouth. 'Its fine' she said and walked off. I say walked, really that doesn't do her justice. She glided away, her hair flowing behind her.

As I exited the shop, my mind was still on the woman. Despite her beauty, something hadn't felt right. The hair on the back of my neck had stood up and the smell of bleach was fresh in my nostrils. I shock it off. I was being silly.

I continued my journey down a few streets, occasionally stopping to look in shop windows. I rounded the corner and headed for my favourite cafe. Me and the groceries crossed the road, heading for the door. As I reached for the handle however, a noise caught my attention. It had been a laugh. A throaty laugh. Greg's laugh. It had come from the side alley next to the cafe. 'Why is he down there?' I thought, puzzled. I backtracked and started down the alley but the sight that met my eyes seared them harshly. Greg was up against the alley wall, cooly snogging someone. That person had ramrod straight black hair and ivory skin. I gasped: it was all I could manage. The girls head snapped up abruptly, looking straight at me. Besides the obvious emotions coursing through me at this point (anger, hate, betrayal) I also felt a pang of fear, for the eyes that were starring so intently at me were a dull red. Greg's head turned towards me ' Hannah?' He said blankly. His face had a glazed over look, not really seeing anything. A sob ripped through me, tears of anger welling in my eyes. I turned and fled.


	2. Runnig from everything

**Hi everyone,**

**I didn't write a comment on the first chapter, as I wanted you to get straight into the story. This is my first go at a fanfic, so I hope you enjoy it. I will try and keep updating it, but I can't promise anything. Please review my story as comments good and bad are always useful. Happy reading.**

**Disclaimer: Stephenie Meyer owns the Twilight series. I own nothing.**

Running

Running is a peculiar thing. Everything moves faster, legs, arms, heart, lungs. But oddly, your brain, when trying to fathom huge things, slows to a crawl. I could neither concentrate nor focus. I heard screams and saw looks of terror as I charged from the scene. (I didn't bother to look for the cause). Exclamations continued as I ran down the street, away from the betrayal and hate behind me. I didn't stop. I didn't think. It felt as though my heart had been ripped from my chest and charred to a cinder, yet somehow, it was still beating. Love is cruel.

Still I ran. I was out of town now, beyond any other people. I felt better running. It didn't allow time for thought. I ran for what felt like miles, yet I did not tire. Anger was still pumping fresh and raw through me, keeping my limbs moving, my heart pounding. Finally, I came to a stop, collapsing to the floor. Sobs shook my frame as I replayed events in my head. Who was she? What was she? 'Well, a beauty that you couldn't compete with', A nasty voice said from within my head, 'I bet she's talented and intelligent' I rolled my eyes at my own reasoning. Still I thought he loved me. I loved him. I must have been very much mistaken.

Sitting up, I noticed a small stream running past. I took in the rest of my surroundings. Tall evergreens loomed overhead, the canopy a lustrous shade of green. Wild flowers embanked the stream; the only sounds were birds and the trickle of water. I walked down to the water's edge and stopped...and starred...and panicked. Looking back from the water was a black wolf. I didn't move. Neither did the wolf. I started to slowly retreat from the water, but as I moved back, so did the wolf. Again I stopped and slowly looked up. But to my surprise, there was no wolf on the other side of the little stream. Glancing down, I saw the wolf still there, looking straight at me. I lifted my arm slowly, only to see the wolf do the same movement. Exactly the same movement. A mirror image. I looked at my arm and screamed. But what came from between my lips was not a scream, but a strangled yelp, for my arm was no longer an arm, but a silvery fur covered leg and instead of a hand, I had a paw. Panicking, I once again starred at the water. The water showed a black wolf, with silvery legs and a silver tipped tail...I. Had. A. Tail.

I won't give you all the details of the next half an hour or so. Let's just say it evolved a lot of profanities, howling and tail observing. Once I had regained a little control, I debated what had happened. My mind came up blank. I checked again, but my sanity seemed to shrug its shoulders and say 'you're on your own with this one.'

At this point, I was suddenly relieved of my feeble attempt at sanity when a woman stepped into the clearing. She was beautiful. Brown hair flowed to her shoulders and she wore a plain white dress, which looked dirty against her skin, yet she still looked amazing. Her skin glittered slightly, casting light around the small clearing. Her eyes were the colour of toffee. I snorted. What was this, hit Hannah's self esteem week? However, despite my gobsmacked mind, if that is even possible, two things told me that she was not at all pretty and lovely. The first was that I was petrified of her. I was drawing parallels with the woman in the shop and the alley way. Same marble like exterior, same exquisite beauty, or, I thought, she could have a sister. The second was that I was growling very pointedly at her, something in me was telling me to, so I obeyed.

The girl took a step forward. It was like she was floating, her gait was so graceful. She continued forward like flowing silk. My mind was long gone, running away as fast as possible and screaming but instinct had taken over. I stepped back snarling fiercely. 'Hello.' The woman said, stopping from her advance, 'I'm Bella, I haven't seen you before'. I was finding it impossible to concentrate, a bleach like smell was filling my nose and at the same time, her voice was lulling me into a coma. Something told me to attack, before I became even more incapacitated. I got ready to spring, but as I did so, a man stepped beside the woman. He had the same toffee eyes. His brown hair was messy yet perfect, and his athletic body shimmered in the same way as she did. I sensed that he was the bigger threat and now I could no longer attack. I turned towards him slightly. 'Who is she', the female ask the male, taking a small step forward. 'careful Bella', the man said pulling her back slightly,' she doesn't know anything, she's not joined a pack, man, Sam and Jacob are gunna have a field day with this.' I didn't like the way this conversation was going. I snarled. 'Help her' the female said placing her hand on his shoulder.

'I'm Edward', said the man, stepping cautiously forward. I growled again, louder this time, curling my tail round to the front, ready to spring. 'Take it easy,' 'he said raising his palms, 'we aren't going to hurt you, we can get help.' I didn't understand his gesture of peace very well. Both he and the woman had appeared from nowhere and I had heard nothing until they had spoken. Raising his palms didn't seem like a 'hey, we aren't going to rip you to pieces' to me. He chuckled 'no I suppose your right', this confused me even more but he was walking back to the one named Bella. 'We need Jacob' he said, pulling the woman with him, 'she doesn't trust us, and I don't blame her. She needs explaining to. She, at the moment is very dangerous and-' That is all I heard as I chose the moment to turn and run. I fled into the forest, streaking between the trees, fear driving me on. Neither pair pursued me.

I galloped through the forest, not really caring; I just knew that the further away, the safer I was. My mind was slowly coming back to me. What were they? Why had I nearly attacked them? I started to pace, trying to order my thoughts, though nothing made sense. My head still hadn't slowed after the series of events. Beautiful woman, Greg kissing beautiful woman, turning into a wolf, meeting more beautiful people and running away from beautiful people. That about summed it up. Exhausted, I slumped onto the ground, my eyelids heavy. The last thing I remembered was the slight rustle of leaves as the wind gently rocked them.


	3. Pack up your troubles

**Hi everyone,**

**Here is the next instalment of Hannah's story, I hope you're enjoying reading it as much as I'm enjoying writing it. This is probably going to be the last regular instalment as school is fast approaching and there is going to be mountains of work =/ I shall try my best to keep up to date**

**Read and enjoy!**

Pack up your troubles

Stretching luxuriously, I slowly regained consciousness, or, what I assumed was consciousness. The events of the previous day had somewhat scrabbled my brain, so for all I knew, I had gone crazy and was now lying in a hospital bed hallucinating due to the various medication being pumped into me. I decided not to dwell on that. I might as well enjoy the freedom if I had gone crazy. I hated hospitals.

I yawned and lumbered towards the small stream I had collapsed next to. I assumed it was the same one I had been at yesterday, though further downstream. I still wasn't used to my new form and attempting to lap up water not only made me feel like a complete fool but also frustrated. How hard can it be to lap water? I tried a different approach and shoved my whole muzzle into the water, only to find that I was still attempting to breathe, which if you've ever tried, you will know it's impossible and feels horrible when the water shoots up your nose. Coughing and retreating from the water's edge I decide to go exploring. There wasn't much else to do and besides, I couldn't go back, not like this. Not to see a doctor, a psychologist...or Greg-

At this point anger ripped through me like fire, searing me right through my chest. I shook it off, but I knew that I would have to face the pain sooner or later. Well, if he had found a new friend, then good luck to him. I bounded off, enjoying the wind wiping past me, my senses picking up the wonderful smells and sounds of the forest. I could feel the dirt between my paws. I suddenly realised that, somehow, in the craziness of it all, I was actually enjoying myself. I barked a laugh, pushing myself to run faster. I galloped on, enjoying it. My brain had disconnected, and my body was having the time of its life. It was like a dream, one of those where you sit back and say, ok, let's see where this is going.

In the distance, I could hear a sort of snuffling sound. I headed towards it, crouching low between the greenery on the forest floor. A deer was stood a few metres in front of me, searching the leaves for dropped fruit. Something in me clicked. I was hungry and this was the perfect opportunity to eat. I considered my options. I could wait for it to come closer, but there was no telling where it was headed. I estimated that I could reach it in 5 leaps, but it would probably scarper. Not really knowing what I was doing, I leapt forward. The deer bolted. I chased after it, coming close, but never quite reaching it. I suddenly realised that my heart wasn't really in it. I couldn't kill the deer. I wouldn't know how to eat the deer. I sighed and galloped off in the opposite direction.

After a while, with the deer far behind me, I slowed to a trot, taking everything in. Dappled light trickled through the leaves, coating everything emerald green. It was beautiful. So beautiful. I lay down with a hummpf, enjoying the light breeze and the warmth from the sun. Then I heard a snap. My ears shot up, searching for the direction the sound had come from, my eyes were darting, searching the undergrowth, my body quivered in concentration. My mind however, was a different matter. It remembered what had come out of the trees last time and it didn't want to be around to meet them again. My body knew what to do but my mind was screaming at me to move. I told it to shut up and grudgingly, it became silent, but I knew that it would be having words later.

I stood slowly, hackles raised, teeth barred. Something was different, there was no, bleach like smell, no silent, floating people. Just a huge massive, ginormous jet black wolf. If I hadn't been completely scared out of my wits, my brain would have made this the point in which it smugly said I told you so. However, due to the circumstances, it was letting the wolf in me lead and was gladly hiding behind my common sense and whatever wolfish instincts I suddenly possessed.

The wolf advanced slowly, almost respectfully, as if it was trying not to scare me. Too late. If I hadn't been freaked enough, two more wolves advanced, a silvery grey one and a chocolate brown one. Both were enormous, but still not the size of the beast that was in front of me. I brought my attention back to the big one who was still approaching. I growled. 'What?' My brain shouted suddenly running forward,' don't antagonise it, it will rip you to pieces and eat you.' I realised this to be true, but now I had growled, I knew running was not an option, my back would be an easy meal if I turned. It took another step forwards and again I growled sinking lower into a crouch. Finally, it stopped its advance and looked at me squarely. He inclined his head slightly towards the silver one and snorted. Then, it turned and darted into the bushes. I stayed where I was, partly because I had no idea what had just happened and secondly because I was petrified.

What happened next made me absolutely certain that I had gone crazy, if the turning into a wolf and seeing beautiful floating people hadn't done that already. A man walked into the clearing straight past the wolves as if they weren't there. And the wolves did nothing. He stepped towards me and looked straight at me. The chocolate one fidgeted. 'Easy Quil' he said, and the male backed off grudgingly. This was way beyond me. This person, this man had walked into a clearing with three wolves and was addressing them by name and they, well responded! I slid out of my crouch, shock taking control. Then suddenly the man started to address me. 'Hello' he said smiling slightly. My jaw, if I had been human at this point would have dropped, but instead, a welcoming snarl burst past my lips (I wasn't aware that wolves had manners). The grey one advanced the other growled, but not at me, this time, it was all on the man. 'Both of you, back off' he said, tuning slightly to address them, she has no idea what's happened, just like me, give her a minute. Quil, get a message to the others.'

This was too much for me. I began to back away, whimpering slightly. 'Hey, take it easy' the man said. 'I'm Sam', said Sam 'and this is Paul and Quil' he said, indicating to the wolves behind him. 'I want to show you something.' Then he did something shocking, He started to undress. Not that he had been wearing much before but still, it was a bit unexpected. I shan't lie I turned away. I could hear the one of them chuckling, if wolves can chuckle. The man said 'look' and as I turned, I couldn't believe it. The man was shaking and then exploded and in his place stood the huge black wolf once again. The next thing that happened freaked me out completely. 'Now' a voice said. Let me explain. 'hey' another male voice said as the Silver one stepped forward, 'its gunna be awesome having another girl in the pack, though Leah wasn't much fun.' The other male, Quil, advanced, and Sam walked towards me. 'Come will us' he said, or thought.

My head wiped around, looking at them all. Were they really talking? 'No' said a voice and once again in sounded from the silver one, Paul, 'we can just hear your thoughts and you ours'.

'you can hear what I'm thinking?'

'sure' Quil replied, walking forwards, 'it's a pain in the arse, no privacy, no secrets, your gunna love it.'

'Oh' I said. 'Yeah, what a bummer.'

At this point, my mind had managed to gain enough sanity to reach the abort button. I swayed, my eye lids fluttered and everything went black.


	4. Waking up to the world

**Hi again,**

**I've been struggling with these next few chapters, so sorry if they become abit bogged down. I hope you continue to enjoy them and remember, comments are always helpful =) enjoy.**

Waking up to the world

'Do you think she's alright? She's been out for ages, perhaps Carlisle-?'

'No, we don't need her morphing in here, let's wait until she knows everything first.' The hushed conversation continued as I gradually came to. My head felt like it had been battered in a washing machine and thoroughly rung out. I groaned loudly and my ears throbbed slightly. I opened my eyes. The wolf/man person, or Sam as he had said, stood at the end of my bed talking to a slightly shorter boy. The fact that I was in a bed startled me, as I remembered being in the middle of a forest.

'Afternoon sleepy head', said the boy, walking forward. 'You sure know how to nap'. A blank look was all I could muster for him. I was getting more flashes of what had happened, woods, shiny people, wolves, me...me. I sat up quickly, looking at my body. Hands. I had hands! Methodically, I gave myself a quick health check. Head, arms, legs, feet and no tail. I knew it. I knew I had gone crazy. The sight in the alley must have driven me insane. 'Funny', I thought, 'I knew I cared, but I didn't realise I cared so much that I would go crazy_.'_

'Take it easy', Sam said, or the one who had been called Sam in my crazy dreams said. 'You've had a bit of a rough time'. Rough hardly did it justice according to my memories. 'wha-wha' But that's all I could manage. I gazed stupidly at their faces, waiting to hear that I had been transferred into a psychiatric ward for further testing. 'Wow, she really isn't taking this well is she?' the boy said, smiling slightly. 'Enough Paul', said Sam. Paul. That name seemed familiar as well, though I couldn't quite place it. He smirked, but said nothing. 'When you've recovered, we shall explain everything'.

'So,' I said, propping myself up on my elbows, 'that really happened, all of it? I'm not crazy?'

'Afraid not' said Sam, smiling warmly. 'But for now, rest up. You've had a nasty few days.'

'huh?' said Paul, stepping forward.

'The Cullens didn't get the friendliest reception from what I hear.'

Paul scowled. 'Ah come on Sam, if I'd done that you would've had a right go!'

'One, I wouldn't have let you get that far', Sam said, punching him teasingly on the shoulder, 'and two, from what I've heard from what Edward told Jacob, she was extremely ballsy when he and Bella appeared, they're lucky she didn't attack.' My mind was humming like a badly tuned radio, I was listening to the conversation, but half of it wasn't making sense. I sank back into the pillows and Sam seemed to notice my draining energy. 'Paul, let's leave her for a bit' he said as he made for the door, 'besides we need to fill the pack and Jacob in with the details.' Despite my deteriorating attention, I noticed his face harden slightly, 'and the Cullen's should also be informed, as she nearly took them out.' Quietly, they left the room, leaving me to sink into thankfully a dreamless sleep.

The next few days were a blur. I swam in an out of consciousness and all the time felt sick and feverish. The place I was staying seemed to constantly have visitors and rowdy ones at that. I didn't take much attention of what was going on around me. Sam, Quil and Paul visited me, along with some other boys and men who all looked similar. On one occasion, when I was particularly groggy, I smelt the oddest smell. It was the same bleach like smell I had sniffed in the woods, yet it wasn't nearly as strong, though this, I reasoned, was down to the fact that I was no longer a wolf and pretty much out of it. The smell didn't last however and it was quickly swept away through the open window.

On what I presumed was the fifth day of lying semi-conscious in a bed, I finally came properly to. From the light that was coming through the curtains, I assumed it was dawn, though it could have just as easily been dusk. I stretch and felt all the aches and pains down my body. I felt stronger than I had done, though not by much. Swinging my legs over the side of the bed, I notice that I was wearing blue cotton pyjamas. 'Odd' I thought, 'I was sure I hadn't been wearing pyjamas when I was walking to the cafe.' The room I had been sleeping in was cosy and homely, with light blue walls and a single window. A chest of draws and a chair were the only other furnishings, but there wasn't much room for anything else. A painting of a forest hung on the wall, with a single black wolf howling to the sky. A flowery smell came my way and I saw a small vase of flowers on top of the drawers. Unsteadily, I made my way towards the door. I felt that my first plan of action was to get a drink, as my throat burned every time I took a breath.

The door opened onto a small landing and I could hear light snoring coming from behind one of the other two closed doors. I opened the other door slowly, finding myself in a neat bathroom. I didn't glance in the mirror as I sloshed water over my face and into my mouth as I knew the sight looking back at me wouldn't be pretty. I combed my hair through with my fingers and headed for the stairs. I found myself in a small lounge. Walking through this, I found myself in a kitchen diner, which had huge windows to allow the light in. A door led out to a garden and glancing through the windows, I could see it stretched along way. Quietly opening the door, I stepped outside. The soft breeze on my face was wonderful. I breathed in deeply enjoying the fresh air. I listened to the sounds of birds and slight swish of the grass. My reverie was broken by an amused voice behind me. 'Not doing a runner I hope?' Sam said, leaning nonchalantly against the door frame. I blushed, embarrassed about being caught dreaming. 'Come in and have some breakfast', he said, walking back into the house, 'and then I will explain what's happening.' Breakfast sounded like a wonderful plan to me.

'Sounds like a plan' I called after him. I turned once more to the openness of the garden, enjoying the wind a little longer. Then I turned and walked back towards the house.


	5. Morphin' Time

**Hello readers,**

**I've found this chapter the hardest to write so far and I'm still not happy with it. But, after much changing and tinkering, I felt that this was the best I was going to get it. So here is the next chapter of Hannah's story. Happy reading. **

**(sorry about the power rangers themed title, but I had a need =P)**

It's morphing time

It wasn't until my seventh piece of toast that I realised just how hungry I had been. Sam had sat at the table while I munched away at my food, sipping a cup of coffee. On meeting Sam's wife, Emily I had only just managed a choked hello around an obstruction of food. I hadn't really looked at her, but as my stomach became more and more satisfied, I began to observe her over the top of my toast. The shock of seeing her hit me instantly, as her disfigured face leapt out at me. Three long scares spanned down half her face, and from what I could see, down most of her body. When she smiled, only half of her face managed it; the other, if anything seemed to drag further down. My critical gaze was broken however, when I caught a hard look from Sam.

I listened to their conversation, though I didn't understand half of it. It ranged from the weather and bills, to patrols and wolf meetings. My brain, content with focusing on my toast, zoned in and out, but I wasn't required to input anything into their talks. Once I had cleared the toast rack Sam's attention turned to me. 'Finished?' he asked, smiling at the satisfied expression on my face as I pushed my plate away. 'Very much so,' I sighed. I felt like I owed these people a lot. They had taken me in, not asked questions, allowed me to sleep in their house for five days and let me clear them out of bread. Feeling like it was a small way to repay them, I collected the dirty dishes and cups and started to wash them in the sink. 'Thanks' I said to Emily, who was leaning against the side board. 'It's fine' she said, smiling again. 'The boys normally clear us out anyway, at least there's some food still left in the house.' I gave her a grateful smile and placed the last plate on the draining board. 'Right then' said Sam, moving to Emily's side, shall we go for a walk?' I nodded in reply. Sam gave Emily the most heart breaking look, kissed her on all three scares then walked to the door. My heart had stopped at the look he had given Emily. My thoughts had flown to Greg. Had he ever looked at me like that? I couldn't remember. We had had many a great time, yet...

Sam beckoned me towards the door and, coming out of my reverie, I followed quickly after, giving Emily a quick wave as I walked through the door. Fully aware that I was still in my pyjamas, I followed Sam across the yard, vaulted the fence and continued after him into the forest. We walked in silence until the faint noises of traffic and people were blocked by the dense trees. Sam smiled at me as we continued through the forest. 'Right' he said, 'what do you want to know?'

'Everything.' Was my first thought, but I thought that might be a bit vague. I riffled through my many questions, searching for the most pressing. I thought. Hard. 'What's happened to me?' (It seemed like a good place to start). He nodded thoughtfully, obviously trying to work out how to tell me. 'You're a shape shifter'. He said, looking away from me, 'our tribe has long had the gene to allow us to change form. We have sworn to protect people from the cold ones and to stop them coming onto our land.'

'err...' I said, trying to comprehend what he was saying. 'Ok, what are the cold ones?' Sam smiled slightly, but it wasn't a warm happy one.

'You would know them better, as vampires' he said. I snorted.

'Vampires? Seriously?' A giggle rose up and escaped my lips. Sam looked at me without a sign of humour on his face.

'Yes, vampires. You met some in the forest, remember? Bella and Edward?' My giggle became a choke as I realised what he was saying. Vampires. Real live vampires. Of course I should have seen it coming; my life definitely needed more mythical creatures in it.

'oh.' It was all I could manage.

'I won't explain everything now; you'll hear all our stories at the fire.' I gave him a quizzical look. 'it's where the elders retell our stories', he elaborated. I nodded, as I still wasn't able to string enough words together to form a sentence. We continued to walk through the forest, my mind whizzing over questions. I began to ask one question, when another bounced into my head. I must have looked like a goldfish, as I kept opening and closing my mouth, occasionally uttering a 'err, are, hmm' Sam didn't push me as he had obviously been there before.

'Why was I so ill?' I said, suddenly thinking of my five days asleep in a stranger's bed.

'We think it was the amount of stuff you went through.' Sam said, a thoughtful expression on his face, 'all of the others went through a more gradual process, but something caused you to morph straight away and with the stress of everything else, I think your body just need some recuperation time.' I nodded. I knew it was logical, well, as logical as anything else was now. But I knew instantly what the trigger had been. Greg and...and...

'How do you tell if someone is a vampire' I said, my brain scrambling to prepare for the answer that I was sure to get.

'Well, as a wolf, the smell pretty much tells you,' Sam said smirking, 'but from a human point of view, they are beautiful people. They sparkle in the light. However, most people are wary of them, there's just something about them.' Sam shivered, I could see why. But my mind was still with Greg in the alley way, with a black haired vampire. I began to shiver, but it had nothing to do with any cold winds. Sam saw me. 'Control' he said, a warning note in his voice, 'that is your first lesson, whatever you are thinking, remove it from your mind.' But that order did nothing except make things worse, Greg and the woman filled my head, swirling around and clouding my vision. I didn't even realise what had happened until I saw the giant black wolf standing once again in front of me. 'Never mind I felt him think, you've got to time to...are.' I knew what the 'are' was for. He had seen what I was thinking.

No secrets. Great. 'There's a good chance he is still alive if you interrupted her', Sam said, though I knew he wasn't sure.

'I have to see him.' I knew though that Sam wouldn't allow it.

'You can't'. I felt an odd resonance in his voice, it pushed down on me and my determination quailed slightly. 'We shall investigate, the elders will look into it, you've already been missing for five days, to turn up now would cause awkward questions.' I knew he was right, but my desire to see Greg continued to nag at me. 'Put it out of your head' Sam said firmly, 'it will be sorted.'

I knew that was his final answer, so I thought no more about it, at least, at that point. We trotted through the forest, Sam answering any questions that popped into my head. He did so graciously and gave me satisfactory answers for each one. Once my questions had died to a slow trickle, we stopped in a clearing. My mind continued to flick backwards and forwards. Sam listened to my whole story, right up to where I conked out in front of him, Paul and Quil. He nodded. I could hear him processing it all, ready to tell the elders all about it.

'I think now is a good time' he thought suddenly turning to face me.

'For what?' I thought back.

'To meet the rest of the pack.'

I was shocked. 'What, already!'

'Yeah, why not, you're already a wolf and that will probably make it easier for everyone. '

I knew why he had suddenly suggested this, and I agree that it worked.

'o-ok' I stammered. He gave me a wolfish grin.

'Excellent' he said. Swiftly he walked into the middle of the clearing, sat down, filled his lungs and howled.

The pack was coming.


End file.
